JI slams Gilani's bid to pardon Sarabjit

Lahore, May 12: Jamat-e-Islami (JI) Secretary General Syed Munawar Hasan has reportedly criticized Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's recommendation to President Pervez Musharraf to pardon Indian convict Sarabjit Singh on death row, after reviewing his case.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the JI leader condemned the unilateral show of softness by the Pakistani government towards Sarabjit who has been found guilty being involved in several bombing incidents in Pakistan in 1998 claiming several lives. He urged the government not to delay the death sentence any further so that "the requirements of justice could be fulfilled", reported The News. He said that such decisions on part of the new government led to questioning of the motive as the Indian government kept returning bodies of Pakistani prisoners in sheer violation of all human rights accords.

The JI leader stated while the government kept a national hero, Dr A. Q. Khan, in confinement and ignored the matter, Indian agents were being pardoned and released on regular basis, which was show of "weakness" from Pakistani side.

Such one-sided acts to earn good graces of the Indians by the new government should be immediately put to an end as the Indian side had not stopped innocent killings in Indian-held Kashmir, the paper quoted the JI leader as saying in the statement.